Catholicism in a Campaign

[Mark Chance]

Here here!

That's, "Hear! Hear!" As in, "Everyone listen to this!"

 

[S'mon]

*sigh* *shakes head*

 

[Wrath of the Swarm]

If you wanted to make things interesting, let the Mother figure be the incarnation of the Divine, and let Her son be a merely human figure that is inappropriately worshipped by the masses.

 

[Dogbrain]

Absorbed deities like St. Bridget to the contrary?

Ah, yes, that tired old lie--quite typical of such dishonest claims manufactured by 19th-century antiquarians. Abbess Brigid (you can't even spell her name correctly) of Kildare was a real woman, who really founded an abbey in Kildare. Her existence can be readily verified.

 

[Dogbrain]

OTOH, such terminology provides useful historical shorthand so that we can speak in general terms, rather than getting bogged down in minutiae and particulars.

And pretty much all of the time, the "shorthand" then takes the place of reality. "Rome" magically becomes an UTTERLY DIFFERENT CULTURE on a SINGLE DAY when it becomes "Byzantium" without the tiniest bit of continuity. I've seen that attitude over and over.

 

[Torm]

I've seen that attitude over and over.

Boy, howdy. Speaking of attitude - I humbly submit that if you're purpose is actually to try to convince anyone of anything, rather than just provoke a negative response so you can continue debating, you would be better served with a somewhat less hostile presentation method. Your posts make me want to refute you, and I don't even particularly care about the subject matter.

OTOH, if your purpose is to provoke people (which is sometimes a valid thing to do to forward a discussion, after all), well, excellent job. Keep up the good work!

 

[Sir Whiskers]

And pretty much all of the time, the "shorthand" then takes the place of reality. "Rome" magically becomes an UTTERLY DIFFERENT CULTURE on a SINGLE DAY when it becomes "Byzantium" without the tiniest bit of continuity. I've seen that attitude over and over.

Well, considering no one has made such a statement in this particular thread, I'm not sure of its relevance.

That said, I understand your point. Consider, however, that using the term Byzantine/Byzantium can be useful in distinguishing the later Roman Empire from what we generally think of as Roman. Cicero (106-43 BCE) certainly would not have recognized much, if anything, in the empire of Alexius Comnenus (1081-1118 CE).

Worrying about calling the residents of Constantinople Byzantines instead of Romanoi is (IMO) comparable to wanting to refer to Americans as English - just because we started out as 13 English colonies doesn't mean we are still English.

 

[Piratecat]

Deep breaths, Dogbreath. Thanks.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Ah, yes, that tired old lie--quite typical of such dishonest claims manufactured by 19th-century antiquarians. Abbess Brigid (you can't even spell her name correctly) of Kildare was a real woman, who really founded an abbey in Kildare. Her existence can be readily verified.

Again, I am using the common lay spelling of the name rather than the canonical proper spelling. The conflation of myths was not entirely canon, but was wde spread among the lay members of the church, including lay clergy. In an oral culture, which includes most of medieval Europe, myths, legends, and histories blend and merge. Myths continue to form outside of doctrine even in the current church.

And yes, there was such an abbess, and yes, there was also a conflation of myths. Please remain civil. Nor was she the only one, nor is the fact that such things happened in any way form an insult tou your religion. The fact is that people tell stories, and the sake of a story is often more important to the teller than accuracy. So confabulation and conflation occur. And when names or functions are similar the stories bleed together. (AS an example take a look at the Norse mythologies.)

The Auld Grump

 

[TheAuldGrump]

That's, "Hear! Hear!" As in, "Everyone listen to this!"

There, there...

The Auld Grump